When Does Accountant’s Blog Violate Ethics Code?

When accountants post derogatory and defamatory comments about a client online are they violating professional ethics rules that govern the accounting industry?

The answer should be fairly evident when blogs you post online are potentially damaging to your client’s personal reputation or corporate image and can pose undue harm to their business operations.

Making derogatory comments about clients or prospective clients and posting them online can lead to lawsuits that drag on for years, deplete your cash reserves, rattle the trust of your existing clients and detract  from your ability to run a successful accounting practice; not to mention financial judgments that can result from unfavorable court findings.  All are just some of the risks that accounting professionals face when they express hateful speech online about their clients, employees, independent contractors or about marketing firms they hire to find clients for them.

Internet blogging can become a dangerous proposition for accounting professionals even when they talk about their clients in internet chat rooms as anonymous entities or without mentioning them by name.   The likelihood of a client becoming aware of derogatory comments that you have posted online about them may be more real than imagined.   For example if your blog mentions your client in the context of something that actually happened involving a third-party and that third-party becomes aware of the comments you have posted on an internet bulletin board then there is a good chance your client will also become aware of them too.

But not only can internet blogging land you in court it can also land you in jail. When Virgie Arthur the mother of the late Anna Nicole Smith became the subject of a blog she felt was defamatory she sued the blogger who subsequently landed in jail for contempt of court upon failing to turn over a computer to the judge hearing the case. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ent/celebrities/6442644.html

What bloggers must realize is when they post something online it becomes public information for everyone to see and not just the person or persons they may want to view their ranting.   An internet blog can memorialize forever what you may be thinking at one particular moment and may regret expressing so publicly only minutes later.  “Imagine if the entire world were privy to every crazy thought that you may have had at one time or another about something or someone which turned out not to be true and you couldn’t take it back afterwards,’ says Johanna Laurent, President of GoodAccountants.com. “Unfortunately there are no redo’s when it comes to comments you post on the Internet,” says Laurent.

Also seen as a form of cyber bullying, some bloggers who attack corporations or other business entities also are coming under the scrutiny of many state and federal courts and are being found liable for comments they make and post on the Internet. “We too recently became the target of a blog which was completely false, that was posted on the Internet by one of the accountants in our network,” says Laurent.   “The accountant was later forced to retract the negative  comments he made about our company and also about the prospective client that did not immediately hire him after a meeting had been arranged only a month earlier by GoodAccountants.com,” she further explains.  ”He also flamed GoodAccountants.com by calling us a scam and encouraged other accountants to contact their State Attorney General’s Office and Consumer Fraud Protection Agencies to lodge complaints against us,” says Laurent.  

“The accountant had already posted his very hateful comments about us on the internet when days later the client we had referred him to and whom he had blogged so negatively about actually called him back and retained his services.   He was forced to eat his words,” says Laurent.  “He never gave us a chance when he rushed to post such negative comments on the Internet about us only thirty days after joining our network.   He met with our client two or three days after he joined our network and then raved about the wonderful client we had found for him only to go ballistics when the client took more time than the accountant may have felt was necessary to make a decision,” explains Laurent.

“I think a lot of this stems from ignorance.   A lot of accountants just do not understand marketing or the marketing process.   You cannot expect to engage a client paying fees of $20,000 or $30,000 annually based on what you may feel should be their timing and then impose some arbitrary time line in which you feel they should have already hired you.    Many of our clients are large corporations who have several layers of management participating in their decision making process which may take some time.” adds Laurent.

“Patience is a virtue that is sometimes scarce among some accounting professionals which is why I always tell my accountants to sit back and let the process work for you instead of working against the process,” advises Laurent.

Bill Estes Engages $11 Million U.S. Subsidiary Company Referred by GoodAccountants.com

An important part of mastering the client acquisition process comes with the understanding that its success or failure cannot be defined by a single client.  At least that’s how Bill Estes, a Certified Public Accountant and sole practitioner based in Rochester, Michigan now sees it when it comes to engaging large clients who pay fees of $25,000 or more.

“When you set your sights on acquiring commercial clients who pay substantial fees you should also be prepared at some point to experience somewhat of an emotional roller coaster ride,” says Estes.  Recounting his own experience with the very first referral he received after joining  GoodAccountants.com, a potential six-figure engagement with a medical group that would ultimately decide to select another accounting firm, Bill Estes now says he regrets the lack of faith he displayed in the overall process.  “I was beside myself with anxiety when I first learned the owner of the medical group  had decided to move in a different direction,” says Estes.   “My only regret is the way I initially acted with some of the staff at GoodAccountants after I found out I was not going to be retained by the client they referred.  I know better now not to allow myself to be defined by any one client,” says Estes.

“I had never done any kind of marketing program before in my 30 years being a CPA other than taking out ads in the local yellow pages here in Rochester, Michigan,” says Estes.  Although he admits being able to count on both hands the number of clients he has managed to convert  over the years from his yellow page ads he remained even more pessimistic about clients who search the internet to find their accountant.

During the tax season Estes estimates he does about 400 individual tax returns whereas  the rest of the year he focuses on servicing physician groups as an outsourced CFO.    With all of the clients resulting from his ads in the yellow pages pretty much being small clients wanting tax returns done when presented by GoodAccountants.com with the opportunity to meet with the owner of a large medical practice  paying between $75,000 and $100,000 annually, although reluctant, Estes decided to take the plunge and became a member of the nation’s largest accountancy referral service.

“To think that here I was investing in a marketing program at a time when the health of the economy was worst than awful, especially in a city like Detroit already hard hit by massive unemployment, made it an even more difficult experience,” says Estes.  “I guess the specter of what I saw as potentially losing all of my money if I didn’t get another referral from GoodAccountants.com was more than I could handle at the time,” he adds.

Instead of thinking from the perspective that difficult economic times bring about the shifting of business alliances as companies look for more favorable pricing for the goods and services they must purchase, many accountants are missing out on the huge marketing opportunity that presently exists in the marketplace.

“Marketing is a process and accountants like everyone else who market their services must be patient and allow the marketing process to work,” says Johanna Laurent, Chief Executive Officer of GoodAccountants.com.   Also losing sight of the fact that bigger clients are generally more difficult to engage than smaller ones can often lead to a level of frustration that can drive even the most savvy of marketing professionals crazy.  “Bigger clients are generally more complex as well as more discerning when it comes to selecting their accountant and will likely want to compare the services of several accounting firms before making a decision,” says Patty Schoenfeld, a Senior Business Consultant with GoodAccountants.com.  “As professionals we are forced to live with this reality but it should never shake our resolve when it comes to landing new clients,” she adds.

In an effort to help demystify GoodAccountants.com’s marketing and referral process the current episode of GA Access is dedicated to documenting what really transpired with Bill Estes and the client that was the first referred to him by GoodAccountants.

“I don’t think two full weeks rolled around before they had me back out in front of another fantastic client,” says the mercurial accountant.  The second referral was an $11 million U.S. subsidiary corporation of a $1.2 billion, Sweden based, publicly traded company with more than 700 employees.  My first reaction to Patty Schoenfeld’s phone call was ”why me?”  “Why would a multi-billion dollar corporation using a ‘Big Four’ accounting firm want to meet with little old me,” says Estes.   The fact is many large corporations are turning to small accounting firms to handle their accounting and financial requirements  whereas in the past the reverse may have been true.  ”Companies today are more concerned with their bottom line and if they can save money on accounting costs by switching from a large firm to a competent, smaller, less expensive firm they will,” says Laurent.   “Many large corporations, universities and retail establishments come to us and ask if we can find a smaller accounting firm for them that will be more attentive as well as less expensive especially as a result of the downturn in the economy,” explains Laurent.

“When I first called Bill to tell him I was lining him up to meet with another great client he was very sarcastic with me,” says Schoenfeld.  ”He was still stuck on the client that got away and it was preventing him from moving forward,” she adds.   “I almost hung up on him because I thought at that point he was acting somewhat childish,” she further explains.   Somehow the two managed to set their mutual cynicism aside and Schoenfeld scheduled Bill for a meet and greet with the Vice President of Finance of the subsidiary company.

At this point we would love to report that Estes retained the second very large client that was referred to him by GoodAccountants.com and everyone lived happily ever after which is exactly what happened.  Notwithstanding, it would take another two weeks after the fact according to Schoenfeld for Estes to realize he had actually landed the client.  “When I called the V.P. of Finance she informed me of her personal attempts to contact Bill after their meeting having resulted with no response,” says Schoenfeld.   “Had I not followed up when I did and discovered she was having a difficult time getting hold of Bill and was preparing to scratch him off her short list there is a good possiblity we would have lost this one too,” she adds.

“The moral of the story is stay focused on the goal at hand and don’t become distracted by external forces that can sometimes play games with your mind and interfere with your overall marketing strategy,” says Patty. ”Accountants have to begin to understand that marketing is a process and not a question of pulling a rabbit out of a hat.  There’s nothing magical about it, it’s a process and they have to be willing to allow the process to work,” explains Schoenfeld.   ”I’m just so glad I didn’t allow Bill’s lack of confidence to interfere with me staying on top of the engagement for him and although he may have given up on me, I never gave up on him,” says Schoenfeld.

To watch the full reality television episode filmed on location at Bill Estes and Associates, P.C. and hear Bill  recount his personal experiences as a GoodAccountant you must become a free subscriber to GA Access.

New “Reality Television Show” That Features Accountants

“Accountants gone wild,” it’s not!

A new “reality television show” that will feature accountants across America begins this fall when GoodAccountants.com rolls out its first episode on September 17th.

“Although our reality show may not be debuting on a major television network or cable station it will be highly visible on such web properties as YouTube, Hulu, MySpace and FaceBook,” says Michael D. Montoya, Social Media and Viral Marketing specialist with GoodAccountants.com. “For far too long accountants have been branded as being the most boring human beings on the planet and it’s high time to change that perception which necessarily isn’t true,” he adds. Although accountants do serious work not all of it is done in dimly lit dungeons behind six-inch thick walls ten stories below ground level. Instead, the show will depict accountants who are gregarious, engaging and extremely important to their clients. “There are accountants out there who make a difference and we’re going to bring them to the public’s attention through this show and we’re going to do it in a very entertaining way,” says Montoya.

Debbie Ford, Manager of Affiliate Marketing

Debbie Ford has been recently recruited by GoodAccountants.com to the position of Manager of Affiliate Marketing and coordinator of the company’s internet based, reality television show. Debbie formerly served as Director of Sales for a Long Island based manufacturing company in her previous position where she was responsible for managing the Sales and Customer Service departments. During her eleven year tenure in her previous position Debbie found working side by side with her clients and helping them grow their business and secure major accounts most rewarding. “I am excited to be joining the ranks at GoodAccountants.com as the new Manager of Affiliate Marketing and look forward to helping the accountants in our Designated Service Provider Program grow their client base and to assist our clients in taking their businesses to the next level,” says Ford about her new position. For further information about becoming a participating member of GoodAccountants.com contact Debbie Ford at 1 (800) 505-7861 ext. 1016

GoodAccountants.com will offer a series of weekly episodes that will feature accountants who participate as members of its marketing network and will air them on its own website along with a number of social media sites that find such content highly relevant to their users. Partner site Lifeafter50.com whose website traffic exceeds more than 12 million daily impressions will carry a portal that will give its users access to the show.

“What’s interesting here is the continuing metamorphosis of social media in ways that are highly unique and which we believe will help promote the accountants in our network along with the business owners who use our website while bringing attention to a whole different side of the accounting profession,” says Montoya.

“It’s pure genius,” says Ray Nowicki, one of the first accountants to be featured by the show and who in his first month of joining GoodAccountants racked up a $26,000 annual engagement along with a pending deal that could gross more than an additional $100,000 in annual billing for his firm, Nowicki and Company based in Buffalo, New York. Nowicki, who has an extremely affable personality, was able to overcome his skepticism about accepting a client referral from ‘out of the blue’ as he puts it, when John Alogna, a Senior Consultant with GoodAccountants first contacted him.

“There is a vast audience of accountants, business owners, entrepreneurs and individual tax payers out there who are simply unaware of each other and will benefit from the subject matter and information these webisodes will bring to them,” says Johanna Laurent, CEO of GoodAccountants.com. “Several episodes will feature some of the small business owners we’ve helped find their accountant,” she adds. “We’re actually sending out hundreds of invitations to these small business owners inviting them to share how their new accountant has been instrumental in helping them overcome the challenges of a tough economy,” says Laurent.

To further promote viewership every episode will also be transmitted via email to more than 500,000 business owners and financial professionals each week. Taxes, healthcare and other issues of the day are topics that will make up some of the subject matter the show will tackle. “Corporate sponsors such as American Express, Verizon and Hewlett Packard among others will find a new and exciting venue to reach the small business community through this show,” adds Laurent.

To see the first installment of the new GoodAccountants.com ‘reality show’ click here.

Please refer all media inquires to Michael Montoya at GoodAccountants.com. Michael can be reached at mmontoya[@]goodaccountants.com

Unveiling of New GoodAccountants.com Website

New York City, NY

For the first time in five years GoodAccountants.com will be launching a new web presence that enhances  ease of use and functionality for the millions of business owners, individual tax payers and accounting professionals that use the highly popular website.

GoodAccountants.com has become the nation’s number one website and referral service for finding an accountant with more than 10-million business owners and individual tax payers using the site since 2005.

“You’ll be pretty hard pressed to find an accountant almost anywhere in the country that hasn’t heard of us or that hasn’t been contacted by us,” says Johanna Laurent, CEO of GoodAccountants.com. “We’re always looking for the best of the best that are out there to recruit into our network of accountants so that we can offer their expertise to the millions of business owners who rely on our referral services,” Laurent adds.

GoodAccountants.com has changed the way business owners select their accountant as well as the way in which accountants are marketing their services. “Imagine being able to tap into a resource that can connect you to the most qualified accountant in your city or town in little more than the time it takes for you to snap your finger,” says Laurent. “Most accounting firms do not have a national presence as we do and certainly cannot provide the type of diversity in experience as we can through our national network that is comprised of thousands of accountants from various accounting firms across the country,” she concludes.

“The objective of the new website is to increase value to both business owners and accountants by making their user experience one that directly benefits their bottom line,” says Michael D. Montoya, Social Media and Viral Marketing specialist with GoodAccountants.com.

“What GoodAccountants has done for the accounting industry has been groundbreaking and pioneering in a similar vein as to what Google has done for the world of online and traditional advertising,” says Montoya.

Come see the new changes on September 1st 2009 at GoodAccountants.com.  Also keep and eye out for the new accounting portal GATVInsider.com coming soon.  Stayed tuned.

Please refer all media inquires to Michael Montoya at GoodAccountants.com.  Michael can be reached at mmontoya[@]goodaccountants.com